About necessity of adapting educational and qualification requirements for toxicology specialty in Ukraine to European standards

N.V. Kurdil

Abstract

Background. An analysis of the existing normative field for the professional training of toxicologists in Ukraine and the confirmation of the relevance of developing modern scientifically sound model of postgraduate training of medical specialists in the field of toxicology in accordance with European Union (EU) standards was the purpose of our work. Materials and methods. Components of the system of postgraduate training of specialists in the field of toxicology in Ukraine and the topical issues that have been updated in recent years; modern standards of EU countries for the training of specialists in the field of toxicology. Results. Today in Ukraine, medical assistance for acute poisoning is provided in most cases by non-specialists in toxicology and doctors of other specialties: emergency medical teams, therapists, anesthesiologists, pediatric anesthetists, family physicians. In the modern training system of medical personnel, there is a paradoxical situation, the essence of it is as follows: toxicology specialty and the qualification characteristic of toxicologist in the legal medical space have been proved, and there is a lack of toxicology departments, which purposefully provide specialized knowledge to future specialists at the postgraduate level. In recent years, defects in the system of vocational training of toxicologists in Ukraine have been increasingly discussed by specialists of various medical specialties (anesthetists, physicians, pediatricians, specialists in emergency medical care, military toxicologists). Obviously, in the current situation, the leading role in the training of toxicologists in the broad sense of the needs of this specialty should be in the field of medical postgraduate education: in the presence of a doctor’s diploma and health system inquiries, a graduate of a higher medical school should have an opportunity to undergo specialization and to receive a specialty of toxicologist. To start a focused educational activity on the preparation of toxicologists in Ukraine, there is already a certain regulatory and legal framework that today can provide postgraduate medical education institutions with the necessary guarantees for the implementation of scientific and pedagogical activities in the training of toxicologists. Since December 2016, the first international toxicological school is opened in Kyiv, which will train professionals in accordance with the requirements of the European Society of Toxicology. Young scientists and researchers will be trained on the basis of the State Enterprise “L.I. Medved Scien­tific Center for Preventive Toxicology, Food and Chemical Safety of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”. Eurotox school has been founded at the initiative of the Center and European Society of Toxicology. Conclusions. The practical implementation of the new program for postgraduate training of toxicologists adapted to the requirements of the European Society of Toxicology will be a real step towards creation of a new format of specialist — medical toxicologist, who in the near future will have an opportunity of professional realization in the system of public health and satisfy the needs of medical and preventive institutions of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and other agencies.